Sony Ericsson have just announced that the Xperia X1 will be available on their Sony Style website from the 28th of November for US customers in an unlocked form. Are Sony being kind to their customers by offering the unlocked version only or did the likes of Sprint and AT&T decide they weren’t gonna touch this sucker with a proverbial barge pole? Well the X1 certainly stacks up in the spec front with the following array of features and numbers for you to drool over
* 800 x 480 res display
* 400 MB Phone Memory with MicroSD slot
* Networks - GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900, EDGE, UMTS tri-band, HSPA
* 110.5 x 52.6 x 17.0 mm
* 158g
* 3.2 mp 3x digital zoom camera
* Windows Mobile OS with Outlook Mobile
* Windows Media Player for your tunes
* Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity
* IM, MMS, SMS and email
* 500 hours of battery life on standby
* 10 hours of talk time
* QWERTY slider keyboard
This all looks very impressive, but then you’re brought down to earth with a big bump when you check out the price tag of US$800. Well the Xperia X1 is unlocked and does sport all the expected bells and whistles, but even so … 800 smackers? Not quite sure what Sony are playing at here, as there are plenty of cheaper smartphone options around at the moment. So we’re going to have give the X1 the thumbs down even with its slider QWERTY keypad!
AT&T have just unleashed the Sony Ericsson W760 handset on their 3G data network. The W760 is a sort of hybrid Walkman/cellphone with Wii handset aspirations. You can control game functions by tilting the unit and change tracks by shaking it. These intriguing functions aside here’s the hard facts on the W760
* Network connectivity - GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900, EDGE, UMTS 850, 1900, 2100 and HSDPA
* Standby time of 350 hours
* Talktime of 4 hours
* 320 x 240 res display
* 103.0 x 48.0 x 15.0 mm
* 103 g
* 40 MB memory expandable up to 4 GB with a M2 memory card
* 3.2 Mp camera with 3.2 digital zoom
* Bluetooth stereo connectivity
* Media Player with Shake Control
* Web Browser
* PC Synchronisation
* USB connectivity
* IM, SMS, MMS and email
* GPS functionality
AT&T are offering this sucker at around US$130 with the usual two year contract. On the surface, the W760 doesn’t like a bad little unit if you’re into music and games with your cellphone. However the more serious cellphone may shy away from it. But we think it looks OK, and kinda funky if only for the novelty factor of seeing users shake the unit to change tracks.
I haven’t banged on about a mobile phone in quite awhile, mainly due to the lack of new releases post-iPhone. So I decided to have a dig around and see what I could find out about an oldy, but goody, the Sony Ericsson K750i. Although it’s been out for a couple of years now this little beauty is still as popular as ever and is currently retailing at around the US$180 mark.
The unit boasts a 176×220 res screen with 34 MB of memory plus a 64 MB card slot so room for a few tunes to blast out over the speakerphone. It’s GSM network enabled, so no EDGE or 3G network connectivity and consequently your web browsing experience will be a bit limited to say the least. There’s a 2 mega-pixel camera with video capabilities as well.
Here’s a full video review from the guys at MobileSift
Know a good story? Send it to tips(at)our-picks.com and we'll read it, turn it inside out, strip it naked, and we might transform it into a shiny front page article. And of course, you'll get your credit :).